The Seediest Spots in East London: Stalking the Kray Twins in 'Legend'

Tom Hardy stars in the film Legend as both Kray twins, East London’s notorious, glamorous gangsters. Visiting their haunts makes for a great tour.

The film Legend, which opens in the U.S. today, stars Tom Hardy as both Ronald and Reginald Kray, a pair of identical twins who in the 1960s became (and remain today) two of London’s most notorious gangsters. The Krays were handsome, ferocious, and gentle by turn, stylish if not sophisticated, masters of deadpan wit, and they loved a night on the town. Like most criminals, they dreamt big and expanded their decidedly unincorporated gang (known as "The Firm") to terrorize all of London, but their story begins and stays in the hardscrabble part of town that they knew best. East London has come a long way from the petty thuggery that the Krays managed to transcend, but it’s cool enough, or always has been grounded enough, to appreciate their extravagances. Walk into any business in this area, find the oldest local in the room, and, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that person will have a story to tell you about the Krays.

Wandering through East London in the brothers' shadow, alongside the film, which was shot on location with impeccable production design, is a tour through the best parts of what’s already the most charismatic part of town, because it’s a tour through a sensibility and a personality that have never left the area, traits that indeed well predated the Krays, even as the brothers molded this tiny universe to their specs. You get the feeling that characters like them—the film’s title is apt—couldn’t have come from anywhere else. Here are a few of the neighborhood's can't-miss, Kray-approved spots.

The Krays’ father, Charlie, supported the family by traveling to far corners of England and bringing back second-hand goods, mainly clothes, to sell in the city. These days, the East End is still one of the best neighborhoods to shop vintage (though now it's by choice, rather than necessity). The store Rokit has four outposts around the city (a less picked-over outlet is the flagship, in Covent Garden), but the two stores on Brick Lane are worth a visit. Skip their original pieces, which are made out of recycled fabrics (and sold at prices so outrageous, Charlie Kray would have applauded), and go for the vintage wear instead.

Off Brick Lane you can find this cozy pub. The Krays assembled their gang The Firm here: They dispensed marching orders for their thugs, would hang out here to drink, and, eventually, the brothers bought the pub outright for their beloved mother, Violet. Its exterior was recreated elsewhere for the film, but the actual locale is well worth a visit: Its wood-and-brick-filled interior is warm and charming, and the staff are kind enough to charge your iPhone behind the bar and hand you a paper to read while you're offline. It's a welcome, and welcoming, respite from the mayhem of Brick Lane.

In Mile End is a very Kray-historic bar called the Blind Beggar, where Ronald Kray shot George Cornell point-blank in 1966, the last of a long string of violent and shamelessly public acts, and the one that finally brought Ronald Kray a life sentence. Both its interior, decked with archival photos and a spacious patio, and its exterior, a busy corner that is choked with street construction, are unprepossessing, and little appears to remain from the time that the Krays used it as an office/living room. It is crucial to the story of the Krays, however, and a common first stop for die-hard crime aficionados.

Some of the best interior scenes in the film were shot at another bar in the area that is much more period-friendly and resplendent with archival detail: the Royal Oak, near the Columbia Road Flower Market, which makes for a gorgeous Sunday in the city at any time of year. The food in the sedate, handsomely appointed dining room upstairs is gastropub-chic. Visit both the bar and the market on a Sunday midday and watch the neighborhood come alive; to avoid the throngs, come early in the week.

St. Matthew's Church

The church where the Krays were eventually buried is another lovely and quiet corner of the neighborhood: St. Matthew’s Church sits on a stately and spacious green. The funeral for their mother drew 60,000 people through its quiet lane in 1982, doubtless because both Kray twins were briefly released from jail (in handcuffs) in order to attend.

On approach to E. Pellicci’s Café with a camera, the proprietor just sighs and asks, “Kray tour?” The Kray twins ate regularly at this local greasy spoon, and it’s beautifully untouched from their time, not to mention still a great place for a cheap and cozy meal. It reproduces memorably in the film and the staff will happily tell you all about the shoot.

The Krays would have loved to hang at Wilton's Music Hall, where you can still see great music.

No one loved a good night out more than the Krays, and the nightclubs that they ran roughshod were centers for criminals to keep lockers of tools, exchange information, pick up starlets or pick fights with challengers. People would come out to their clubs whether or not they had skin in the criminal game: Who needs Hollywood when you can witness a near-fatal fistfight right around the corner? The lush clubs in the film make you want to go out. If the Krays were swinging now, they might hang out at Wilton’s Music Hall, a venue in the East End that has been restored to reflect the splendor that you see in the film. If you can catch a show there, do, the lineup is eclectic and smart; if you can’t stay for a show, take in its glorious Mahogany Bar and savor a drink or two.

The Krays also owned a gorgeous club called the Hideaway. It’s now defunct, but the film uses the Cafe de Paris to recreate (perfectly) the magic of the original. The Cafe de Paris is not technically in the East End—it’s actually near Leicester Square, in the center of town—but it opened in 1924 and is the kind of lush, opulent place that the Aga Khan visits when in London. For glamor in spades, you should, too.